Winston Churchill, the wartime British Prime Minister, is credited with saying, “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest”. 

Prime Minister, fellow Grand Bahama residents, and our distinguished visitors, good morning. 

It is my honor to stand before you as President of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, to welcome you to this the 27th edition of GB Business Outlook. This year’s theme is “Strengthening Foundations for Long-Term Prosperity”. A theme the Chamber wholeheartedly supports and puts its full efforts behind. Joan’s team has done a stellar job over the many years. Please give them a hand and consider yourselves, duly welcomed. 

Many believe that the Chamber only advocates for businesses, but in truth, we apolitically champion, with consistency, commitment and total transparency, all four pillars of commerce. 

We champion: 

1. The regulatory environment – which establishes the legal framework for the orderly conduct of commerce, and can be either a driver or a hindrance. 

2. Businesses – who, in exchange for returns for their creativity and efforts, invest their intellectual, financial and personal capital in providing goods and services needed by society. 

3. Employees – the actual producers of the goods and services exchanged in the commerce dance. They typically make up 95% of a society. 

4. Customers – the sole reason for commerce to exist. 

These pillars are inseparable. If one falters, commerce falters—and when not consistently, strategically, and pragmatically coordinated, society falters. Hence, the mandate of the Chamber. 

As we begin today, let me echo the words of John F. Kennedy, who reminded us: “Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” 

Today, I have also been asked to give you an update on the Chamber’s stewardship over the last 12 months, but as my time is limited, I will focus this presentation on the most critical pillar: the regulatory environment. 

The Regulatory Environment 

The Magical Rise 

Grand Bahama is a story of extraordinary promise. In just 20 years, Freeport was transformed from pine barren into a thriving city—thanks to visionary private investment and the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, an Act of Parliament that created the Bahamas’ modern Free Trade Zone. 

As Peter Drucker said: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” 

And create it we did. Capital flowed in. People flowed in. Goods flowed in and out. A city was born. Grand Bahama became an international trading hub, a retirement resort of the Americas, and the adult playground of the Eastern Seaboard—a beacon of opportunity and a model for the world. 

The Near Fatal Crash 

But then, the brakes were slammed. Bahamians had been locked out of the city’s social structure, and instead of fixing the problem with inclusion, policy changes torpedoed the very foundation of our success. Investors fled. The Bahamas’ Free Trade Zone was neutered. 

While other nations embraced free trade zones, transforming themselves into global hubs ofprosperity, we drifted. We had the original regulatory model, yet we abandoned it. 

Despite these setbacks, Grand Bahama still houses 10% of our nation’s population and contributes 12% of its GDP. Let that sink in. Grand Bahama accounts for as much as all other Family Islands combined. The outwardly looking regulatory environment and private capital did more in 20 years than the inwardly looking regulatory environment and the public purse has been able to accomplish in the last 70 years. 

Over the last 70 years, Grand Bahama has contributed billions of dollars to the public purse in taxes, and with the exception of funds needed to maintain Central Government’s presence on the island, an inconsequential amount has returned. Inconsequential capital, inconsequential operational, and inconsequential maintenance expenditures. Not even to East and West Grand Bahama. Grand Bahama has been essentially self-sufficient. It has not had a “free ride” like some of my Nassau family and friends espouse, it has paid its own way and significantly subsidized other islands. 

This is not nostalgia but an assessment of the road map. The words of *Winston Churchill* ring true here too: “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” 

The Future We Must Choose 

Nelson Mandela once said: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” 

Imagine what we can achieve if we restored the full spirit and promise of our Free Trade Zone. We can achieve: 

An island of 300,000 people driving global trade. 

A domestic market of 300,000 reserved for Bahamians. 

Economies of scale reducing the total cost of living while the international marketplace raises our collective wealth. 

We have the land. We have the infrastructure. We have the history. What remains is courage—courage to embrace opportunity again. 

The Call to Action 

We have within our reach the competitive advantages embodied in the Original Hawksbill Creek Agreement. Small countries that ignored such tools have been left behind. Those that embraced them—Singapore, Dubai, and others—have surged ahead. In 1965, Dubai and Singapore’s GDP/Capita was half that of ours. Now they are double ours. 

As Mark Carney recently said: “A world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile, and less sustainable.” 

If we close ourselves off, we institutionalize mediocrity. If we open ourselves, anchored in excellence and purpose, we will thrive. 

And as Henry Ford reminded us: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t — you’re right.” 

This is not politics. This is proven governance. This is about whether we choose stagnation or revival. Whether we let our land sit idle or use it to bring prosperity to our people. Grand Bahama can rise again. The choice is ours. 

Let us embrace it. let us have it all. Let us prevail! 

As I close, let me leave you with one last point. You have come to appreciate from this speech that Freeport is not a failed city. It is a beacon on a hill that illuminated the world. Matt. 5:15 states, “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket”, but we did. Freeport was told to “sit small”. There is no shortage of private capital or vision, two of the three critical requirements for the original “MAGIC”. 

What is now missing is the regulatory environment. Grand Bahama will not fulfill its Godordained purpose until you, yes, each of you, leaves your comfort-zone at the wailing wall and demands that the basket be lifted. 

The skirt is the right length. The Chamber’s message has been delivered. Wat ya gon do, now? 

Thank you